Women Represent One-Quarter of the World’s Parliamentarians

Spectators chant “Justice” after Chilean singer Mon Laferte was joined by Mexico’s Vivir Quintana and a chorus of dozens to perform an anti-femicide song during a concert on the eve of International Women’s Day in Mexico City Saturday. Rebecca Blackwell/AP

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The number of female parliamentarians in the world has more than doubled since the groundbreaking U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 25 years ago, the Inter-Parliamentary Union said Friday. Part of the reason may be quotas.

While female representation in national parliaments has increased, gender parity remains a distant dream. However, significant changes have occurred.

In 1995, the top-ranked country in terms of female members of parliament was Sweden, followed by other Nordic and developed countries.

This year, Rwanda, with more than 60% female MPs, beat 171 other countries for the top spot, followed by Cuba, Bolivia and United Arab Emirates. Sweden has been bumped down to seventh position.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union finds countries in the Americas have made the most progress in terms of representation of women in parliament, followed by Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia. The Pacific, which holds up the bottom of the rankings, is the only region where some parliaments have no women.

IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong said women fare best in countries that apply quota systems for their representation.

“Wherever quotas are being used during electoral processes, we see an increase in the women’s representation when compared with the countries where there are no quota systems. So, we continue to lay emphasis on the need for quotas to be legislated in order to achieve gender equality,” he said.

“It is more often possible to address some of those issues that may be specific to women; such as, maternal and newborn and child health to be on the agenda, women’s political participation, violence against women, sexism. Those things tend to come to the fore when you have strong women’s participation in parliament,” he said.

Chungong said he believes the MeToo movement could help boost women’s political representation. He said the movement directly confronts sexism, sexual harassment and gender-based violence, which help keep women from seeking and winning electoral office.

We are building Nova Earth, a world that works for everyone, by Jan. 1, 2023; we are bringing an end to child trafficking and enacting the first national universal basic income and universal medicare programs by Jan. 1, 2021

The Mother’s Clarion Call to All of Humanity!

This is my clarion call to all of humanity to embrace love, to embrace truth, to embrace peace…

Jesus through John: Now is the Moment!

The pandemic has led people to question more freely and deeply the motivation of those in authority, and has given them the time and the opportunity in which to do so.

Much of a nefarious nature is being revealed daily as investigative journalists, who are not directly employed by any of the main media organizations, academics, and whistle-blowers make their inquiries and then make the resultant findings available to all on the world wide web. …

Archangel Michael: Do not Get Caught in the Drama of White Hats or Black Hats

Beloved ones, do not allow yourselves to be distracted, yes, by the chaos….

Do not get caught in the drama of white hats or black hats, or good guys or bad guys. All beings are birthed directly from the Heart of One…. (“Archangel Michael: Do not Get Caught in the Drama of White Hats or Black Hats,” Nov. 12, 2019; see here.

Archangel Michael: Lead or Leave a Vacuum

Werner Erhard on Responsibility

“Responsibility begins with the willingness to take the stand that one is cause in the matter of one’s life. It is a declaration not an assertion, that is, it is a context from which one chooses to live. Responsibility is not burden, fault, praise, blame, credit, shame or guilt. In responsibility, there is no….” (Read more…)